International Seafood Sustainability Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Erin Grandstaff erin@vennsq.com
Charlie Patterson charlie@vennsq.com
+1 202-466-4437

1 February 2012 – A conservation measure passed by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Board of Directors will require industry participants to adopt written policies that prohibit the practice of shark finning and refrain from transactions with fishing vessels that engage in the practice.

Shark finning is the act of removing a shark’s fin while discarding the carcass at sea. Shark finning violates the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries as well as several other resolutions adopted by the FAO, other international marine organizations and national governments.

“There is no room for shark finning in a sustainable tuna fishery” said Susan Jackson, President of ISSF. “We’re calling on the tuna industry as a whole to prohibit this practice while we work with RFMO member nations to strengthen management and enforcement measures and for national governments to follow through with implementation.”

According to the ISSF Resolution to Prohibit Shark Finning:

• By June, all ISSF Participating Companies must establish and publish company policies that ban shark finning;
• And by September, processors, traders, importers, transporters and others involved in the seafood industry, must refrain from transactions with vessels that carry out shark finning or with vessel owning companies that do not have a public policy prohibiting shark finning.

Read the full text here.

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) is a global coalition of scientists, the tuna industry and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s leading conservation organization, promoting science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health. To learn more, visit their website at iss-foundation.org

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